Sharp County record., 1887-01-27
q ON BROKEN PIECES"
,ernon by Rev. T. De Witt Tai
mage, D. D.
r.s.ons Drawn from Notable Shipwreck
In the Struggle with Sin and DouDt'
Let All Else Go and Cling to
the Beam of the Cross

ssstr. .fonrth verse of the tWenty-s eventh
,honter of Acts: "Some on broken pieces
+ the ship" de then said:
Naver off Goodwin Sands, or the Skier
ses or Cape Hatteras, was atshsp in worse
,redicament than in the Mediterranean
'rrricane was the grain ship, on which two
'nndred and seventy-six passengers were
s;van on the coast Of Malta, five miles
rorn the metropolis of that island Gale ID
stta t Vecchia After az two weeks eera-
est. est in which the ship was emit .etv djs.
SIs Ned and captain ant crew ; ,ad become
Up ompletely demoralizehs an I'D missionary
, ,ok command of the yes >sel. He was small,
rooked-ba backed and I6Ie-eyed, according
/, tradition. 1t V.as Paul, the only un-
cared man ao' ard. He was no more
fraid Of a Eu loclydon tossing the Mediter-
anean Sea now up to the gates of Heaven,
nd now sinking TO the gates of hell, than
ewas of kitten playing with a string.
[e ofdered theA all down to take their
atoms, first ASKING for them blessing.
hen he insured. all their lives, telling them
hey wetilG be trescued, and, so far from
,sing their heads, they would not lose so
luch Of their hair as you could cut off with
be click Of THE scissors; aye, not thread
it. whether lit were gray with age or
olden with youth. "There shall not a
air fall from the head Of any of you.n
Knowing that they cap never get to the
ssired port, they make the sea on the four
enth night black with overthrown cargo,
that When the Snip strikes it will not
rike so heaFilY At daybreak they saw
creek, and IN tAeir exigency resolved to
AXE for it, A. nd so they cut the cables,
ok IN the two paddles that they had on
eseold btJats, and hoisted the mainsail,
that tn n might come up with such force
to pc driven high up on the beach by
me fortunate billow. There she goes,
rnblng towards the rocks; now prov
remost; now stern foremost; now roll
over to starboard; now wave dashes
ear over tho deck, and il seems as if the
craft has gone Forever. But up she
mes again. Pau]'s arm around a mast,
,cries: 'All Is well; God has given me
those that sail with me-"
Crash went the Prov with such force
at it broke off the mast Crashl went
timbers till the seas rushed through
om side to side Of the vessel She parted
lid-ships, and into thousand fragments
svessel goes, and into the waves two
ndred and seventy-six, immartals nre
ecipitated. Some of them had been
ought up on the sea-sa0re and had
.rned to swim, and with their chin Just
ove the waves and. ~ stroke of beth
MS and propulslop of both feet they put
for the beach and reach r. But, alas,
those others They bad never learned to
i'm, or tpGy were Wounded by the falling
the unast, or the nervous shock was too
'as for tlGm And others had been
akensd by long seasickness.
A,what will become of them2 ''Take
i piece of rudder,n says Paul to one.
AXE that fragment of SPAR" says Paul
another. "Iake that table" ''Take
timage of Caster and Pollok" "Take
plank from the lifeboat" ''Take any
ag and head for the beach" What a
uggle for life in the breakers Oh, the
rciless waters how they sweep oyer
heads Of men, women and childrenl
ID on there! Almost ashore, keep up
r couragel Remember what Paul told
here, the receding wave on the beach
yes in the sand a whole family; there
wis up out of the surf the centurion;
re another plank comes in with life
lging fast to it; there another piece Of
Shattered vessel with its freightage Of
immortal soul. They must by this time
be saved. Yes, there comes in last Of
for ne had been overseeing the rest
old missionary, who wrings the water
n his gray beard and cri es out: ''Thanls
all are herew
ather them around a fire and call the
Paul builds a fire, and when the
dies Of sticks begin to crackle, and,
ding and sitting around the blaze, the
'engers begin to recover from their
and their wet clothes begin to dry
warmth begins to come into all the
ering passengers, let the purser Of the
iel go round and see if any Of the poor
lures are missing Not one Of that
vd that were plunged into the sea. How
lieves our anxiety as we read: "Some
broken pieces Of the ship, and so
anne to past they all escaped safe to
-
iving on previous occasions looked at
other passengers, I confine myself to-
to an examination of those who came
1 broken pieces Of the ship. There is
ething about them that excites in me
ltense interest. am not so much in
sted in those that could swim. They
Ashore as expected A mile Of water
tavcry great undertaking for strong
amer, or even two miles are not. But
n not stop thinking about those on
EN- pieces of the ship.
great Gospel ship is the finest vessel
Q universe and can carry more passen-
than any craft ever constructed, and
,oulG no more wreck it than you could
the throne Of God Almighty. l
all the people would come aboard of
could not promise a smooth voyage,
1T times it would be tempestuous or
,pped sea, but could promise safe
al for all who took passage on that
Eastern, so called by me because its
mander came out Of the east, the star
Q east badge of His authority.
tavast multitude do not take regular
ige. Their theology is broken in
s, and their life is broken in pieces,
heir worldly and spiritual prospects
roken a. pieces and yet believe they
olng to reach the shining shore, and
ncouraged by the experiences of those
le who are spoken of in the text:
ie on broken pieces of the ship"
object Of this sermon is to encourage
ose who can not take the whole sys-
n religion as we believe it, but who
believe something, to come ashore
at one plank do not underrate the
OF q great theological system, but
Elm all the Bible is there any thing
Iays: Believe in John Calvin and thou